The city on Monday can start issuing construction permits after more than six years in an economic rut sparked by a building ban, and leaders hope a major hotel chain's interest in Hollister is a sign that the area's fortunes will soon change.
The regional water board's recent decision to allow issuance of building permits starting next week prompted Mayor Doug Emerson to call it "the greatest news we've had" since he joined the council in 2004.
That decision - to allow building permit issuance under the condition that sewer connections aren't made until the new plant is done - allows the city to get a five-month jump-start on allowing construction and ultimately reversing San Benito County's overall economic misfortunes.
"What it shows is the water board's confidence in the project, where we've met every deadline," Emerson said. "We've done everything they've asked."
That bolstered confidence comes with Hollister's expected completion in December of the new sewer plant, which has been the state's requirement tied to the moratorium's lifting since its decision to ban construction here after the 15-million gallon sewer spill in 2002.
City officials had planned to present their strategy to water board members for allowing building permit issuance this summer without connections. But City Manager Clint Quilter said the agency approved the request on the staff level without city leaders even having to address the seated officials.
Quilter noted how he doesn't expect much residential growth right off the bat. Commercial development, however, is another story.
Quilter described a "pent-up commercial demand" and pointed out how national chain Marriott submitted plans a couple of weeks ago for a four-story hotel, with more than 100 rooms, on Gateway Drive near Tiffany Ford.
"The people that are looking here can see a light at the end of the tunnel," Quilter said.
Many of those locals who've suffered immensely due to the moratorium and a generally flat construction market are the local contractors who've been forced, for the most part, to seek out-of-town work.
Damon Felice is one of those builders. He also noted there probably would be a limited number of available jobs in the first year, but he remains optimistic that opportunities are around the corner. As the moratorium is set to end, he and other local builders are starting the Association of San Benito County Contractors to replace a prior group - called the San Benito County Contractors Association - that he said has lost most of its membership due to feuding within the group.
One of the main goals is promoting opportunities for local builders' involvement in local projects.
"It's a voice of local contractors, just to give local contractors an opportunity," said Felice, who added how the price of fuel these days also has compounded an already difficult situation for many.
Kollin Kosmicki Kollin Kosmicki is editor of the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566 ext. 337 or editor@freelancenews.com.
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